610 BOARD OF AGRICULTUE^. 



FRIDAY MORNING. 



January 23, 1003. 9::30 o'c-lock. 

 CARE AND HANDLING OF MILK. 



H. N. SLATER, LAFAYETTE. 



I received notice from your wortliy Secretary a short time ago that 

 I would be expected to give the Indiana Dairy Association a paper on the 

 "Care and Handling of Milk," which I consider a great honor. I will 

 give you some of my methods, which I consider the most essential ones 

 in caring for milk. Many dairy farmers are prosperous, establishing 

 the fact that the dairy industry can be made to yield good profits, while 

 others who seem to have the same opportunity for success fail to find the 

 profitable side. In the endeavor to ascertain tlie important cause of fail- 

 ure, practical men engaged in the diiferent branches of dairy work have 

 been consulted. 



A large numlier of in(iuiries were sent out by the Dairy Division to 

 butter and cliecse makers and others, reipiestiiig them to state what part 

 of daii-yiiig in their judgment was in the greatest need of improvement. 



The following are some of the replies received: 



'I'lie delivery of milk l)y ])atroiis niid I lie jiroper cai'c i)rior to d(>livery. 

 In fact, this one alone will be sulHcient to cover ;ill groimd, as it is a bi-oad 

 one. Very few i-eferred to the chemical composition of milk or the amount 

 of butter fat it contained. 



Milk that is poor in fat n;itur;illy. or because it has Ix-en adulterated 

 by skimming or watering, does not give the butter or cheese maker much 

 . troul)l(! since the introduction of the iiabcock test. 



raying for the amount of fat delivered instead of the Itulk of milk 

 leaves no sti'oiig tcmptaticni to water or skim. 



A large i>i'opoi-tion of our dairy farmers ov(>rlook the fundamental 

 principles wliicli sliould be oliserved in i»roducing pui'e milk. Tliis is usu- 

 ally due to lack of appreciation of tlieir importance more than tlieir in- 

 tentional neglect. In many cases wliere conditions are pi'omptly iniijroved 

 this danger disai)iiears. Special knowledge is as necessary in conducting 

 the dairy as in other occupations. When one understands scientific i)rin- 

 ciples in dairying the chang(> in milk ceases to ))e mysterious .and the 

 work with dairy instead of being nniirolitalijc and uncertain, as some 

 consider it, may Ix'come profitable, intci'esting and Inst met ive. 



